Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 2.djvu/669

from the reserve, who have been trained in their ranks, and from the cavalry reserve men who are not required to complete the cavalry regiments. When an army takes the field, one squadron of military train is allotted to. each infantry or cavalry division, one to each army and army corps headquarters, one to each pioneer battalion for the transport of its bridge equipment, and one to the artillery reserve" and ammunition park. A squadron attached to an infantry or cavalry division is formed into five sections, of which the first provides the necessary transport for the divisional and brigade staffs and the field hospital ; the second, third, and fourth for the provision column; while the fifth or reserve .section supplies all necessary reliefs and minor miscellaneous requirements. Regimental trans port is provided for by the regimental train, each infantry regiment having permanently attached to it 8 baggage waggons, 6 commissariat store waggons, and 3 ammuni tion waggons; and each cavalry regiment, 4 baggage and

1 3 supply waggons.

General Organisation and Administration of the Army.—Since 1867 the Austrian empire has consisted of two distinct states, a German or Cis-Leithan empire, commonly known as Austria proper, and a Magyar, or Trans-Leithan, kingdom, known as Hungary. Each of these countries lias its own parliament, ministers, and government. The connecting ties between them- are a common hereditary sovereign, a governing body known as the Delegations, and a common army and navy. The war strength of 800,000, at which the naval and military forces of the empire are fixed, is distributed between Austria and Hun gary in proportion to their populations ; Austria contribut ing 470,368, and Hungary 329,632. The annual con tingents are divided in similar proportions. The cost of the maintenance of the army, which in 1871 was esti mated at 10,500,000, is charged in the budget for the "common affairs of the empire," laid before the Delegations. A portion of this is met by the proceeds of the customs, and other sources of revenue set apart to meet the common expenditure ; the rest is defrayed by the two states in the proportion of -^j-ths from Austria, and -jths from Hungary. The emperor is commander-in-chief of the army ; the mili tary and administrative business is centred in the War Department, which is presided over by the War Minister and his deputy. The empire is divided into 16 military territorial districts. Of these, 7 are called "general com mands," and have general officers of high rank specially appointed to them ; the remainder are termed "military commands," and are commanded by the senior divisional commander stationed in the district. Each commander of a district is assisted by a general officer of lower rank, who has special duties to perform, and takes the place of the commander in the event of the latter being called away on mobilisation. The military districts again are subdivided into 80 regimental recruiting districts, corresponding to the 80 infantry regiments, each under the superintendence of the reserve commander or second colonel of the regiment, whose duties correspond closely to the landwehr battalion commanders in the Prussian organisation.

The Austrians have no permanent corps organisation ; their standing army is formed into independent divisions, which have no fixed stations, but are distributed about the empire according to circumstances, and occasionally relieve one another. There are 32 such divisions, of 2 infantry brigades each; 18 of these have cavalry brigades attached to them. In war time 3 infantry divisions, with a regi ment of artillery and proportion of cavalry, would usually 1x3 united to form an army corps; but the division remains tao principal unit of organisation. The following gives the strength and details of an Austrian infantry division in the field:—

Officers and lien. Horses. Guns. Waggons. Divisional Staff,. . 379 114 14 2 Brigades Infantry (4 rcgi- ) ments =12 battalions, ... 2 Battalions Kifles, 11,882 1,978 280 8 74 8 Cavalry (3 squadrons) Artillery (3 batteries), 531 552 476 370 24 8 43 1 Company Engineers,.. 234 15" 6 Ammunition column, .. 170 166 32 Field Hospital 133 54 21 Provision column,- 242 288 158 Total, 16,101 1771 24 364

This includes all, non-combatants as well as combatants, or the " rationing strength " as it is termed. The combatant strength of & division is 12,884 infantry, 472 cavalry, and 24 guns.

The Austrian army, though long the most perfectly equipped in Europe, and always distinguished for its appear ance, its discipline, the strong esprit de corps of its officers, and the scientific training of its staff, has yet the most unfortunate history of all the great European armies. Defeated repeatedly by Frederick in the Seven Years War, by Napoleon in the Revolutionary wars, and later by the French in 1859 and the Prussians in 1866, the Italians are the only nation over, whom it can claim to have been generally victorious. Yet its spirit has always remained unbroken ; and however severe the defeat, however dis astrous the campaign, no reverse ever brought Austria to the condition of Prussia after Jena, or of France after Sedan. There are several causes to which this almost uniform ill-success may be attributed. Trusting to diplo macy rather than force of arms, her strategy has always been cautious and vacillating. The hands of her generals have repeatedly been held when in the act of striking. But the same . caution which often prevented her reaping the successes actually within her reach, or retrieving disasters which were not yet irremediable, also left her always with a reserve and a show of power still formid able. Austria has also suffered from the heterogene ous composition of her army. Germans, Hungarians, Czechs, Poles, Croats, Italians, served together under officers who frequently could not communicate with their men. The Germans, or Austrians proper, are loyal and faithful to the house of Hapsburg; but the other nationali ties were not only indifferent, but frequently hostile, and instances of whole regiments surrendering to the enemy rather than fight for a cause they detested, are common in the history of her wars. The only ties by which this heterogeneous mass was bound together, was a strict and somewhat harsh discipline, and the strong loyalty and esjmt de corps of its body of officers. The Austrian officers have always been distinguished by a cameraderie peculiar to themselves. Officers of various nations and of very different social standing meet on terms of perfect equality and intimacy as the " emperor s servants," and no distinc tions are acknowledged within the. army save those of military rank. The general physique and intelligence of the rank and file of the army is rather below than above the average. Some of the Hungarian regiments are fine bodies of men, but the standard in other parts of the empire is very low, and education has made but little pro gress in the outlying provinces. The men are generally docile and somewhat phlegmatic, but have neither the elan of the French nor the stubbornness of the northern nations.

Since 1866 a great change has taken place in the

character of the Austrian forces. The disastrous campaigns of 1859 and 1866 shook the confidence of the nation in that fine imperial army that ever showed so gallantly on

parade, and yet seemed ever to suffer defeat in the field.